Food & Beverage Companies Going Green

The InnoBev Global Soft Drinks Congress met in Moscow in April where the Carbon Action Plan was launched. The Plan provides beverage companies and their supplies with a common way to measure their carbon emissions.

Zenith Chairman Richard Hall said, “For the first time anywhere in the world, we have proposed five key genuine green rating scores to go beyond carbon footprints. These are: the amount of renewable energy used the percentage of recycled material in the packaging the number of water liters used to make 1 liter of product the extent of a company’s carbon reduction in the previous two years and the amount of carbon emissions verified as having been offset.

Leading British bottled water producer Highland Spring undertook the first Carbon Action Plan pilot. “The biggest benefit of the CAP scheme is that we can now identify greenhouse gas hot spots in our supply chain — by managing them, we will reduce our carbon footprint with certainty,” said Highland Spring technical manager Bryan McCluskey.Silk Soy The green cap on the Silk Soy milk cartons symbolizes the company’s commitment to offsetting their greenhouse gas emissions. The Whitewave Foods Company, which produces Silk Soy, purchases carbon offsets from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) which go towards wind farms. In 2003 Silk Soy was the biggest non-utility purchaser of renewable energy credits (RECs). The company received the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Green Power Partner of the Year Award for four consecutive years. “Renewable energy is an investment that realizes invaluable return to our environment, our health and our quality of life. Being recognized with a Green Power Leadership award is a great honor. It goes to show that responsible business practices can be profitable and make a difference,” said Joseph E. Scalzo, President and CEO of WhiteWave Foods.Cascade Green The Australian beer, Cascade Green offsets 100 percent of their carbon dioxide emissions. Owned by the brewing company Fosters, Cascade Green purchases carbon offsets certified by the Australian government. The offset funds support the Hobart Landfill Flare Facility which extracts methane from organic waste in order to generate 7,500 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply power to over 1,100 homes. The project keeps over 35,000 tons of carbon from entering the atmosphere which is equivalent to taking 9,200 cars off the road every year. “Reducing our carbon footprint makes good business sense. The work completed to understand and reduce the carbon footprint of Cascade Green is an important input into our continuing group efforts to reduce our global greenhouse gas emissions,” Sylvain Cuperlier, Vice President, Director of Worldwide Corporate Social Responsibility of Dole Food Company, Inc. said, “Today, we want to utilize the Company’s environmental management systems and our staff’s expertise to produce and market ‘carbon neutral’ bananas and pineapples. Dole’s achievements in this area will come from working relationships with our employees, independent producers, labor representatives, government, academia, NGO’s, customers, and suppliers.”

Gina-Marie is a freelance writer and journalist armed with a degree in journalism, and a passion for social justice, including the environment and sustainability. She writes for various websites, and has made the 75+ Environmentalists to Follow list by Mashable.com.